Bob Langert, vice president of corporate social responsibility at McDonald’s, explained that it all started with a letter from Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to McDonald's president at the time, Ed Rensi, essentially saying, “Hey, we could help you out!” EDF was reaching out to McDonald’s at a time when environmental groups didn’t typically collaborate with Corporate America. Langert recalled Rensi asking, “Have you ever heard of Environmental Defense Fund?” Langert responded that he hadn’t, and that environmental opportunities were “all new to us.”

And that’s how EDF's first corporate partnership began 20 years ago. Today, EDF continues to build on its experience from a generation of working with business, and explore the future of corporate environmental sustainability.